


Hidden Lives

by Anexor



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Genre: But some of it comes from ideas of certain people on tumblr, Gen, Hallownest, Hollow Knight - Freeform, It's about as short as the rest of my works usually are, Most of this is thought up by me, Not quite sure if this is good or bad, Probably should have slept instead of writing this, Short Stories, oh well
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-20 20:22:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11928546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anexor/pseuds/Anexor
Summary: This is going to be a series of bugs and areas for Hollow Knight that were never in the game.Each one will basically be whatever comes out of my head while writing, and at the end will be an idea for an item based off of the area.I may put a boss in some of them, but I may not.





	1. The Colony

**Author's Note:**

> I keep hesitating to post my works because I'm not entirely confident in their quality.  
> Nonetheless I'm going to post this anyways because otherwise it would just sit on my phone forever.

They had always been there. The Colony had never left Hallownest. They were hidden, just like the Hive, and just like the hive, they kept their problems seperate from Hallownest. The Colony and the Hive worked together. The Hive produced honey, and the Colony took the excess. The queens spoke with each other often.

Then something happened. The Hive continued to produce honey, but the Colony wasn't interacting with them anymore. At first it just seemed like they had left, and simply forgot to tell the Hive. Then they saw the Colony, or, what was left of it. The ants who had worked hard to dig the tunnels were now trapped in them by cave-ins, and the ants that had collected the honey walked around like mindless husks, their abdomens filled with a strange orange liquid similar looking to honey.

It wasn't. The ants were vicious, deadly creatures. Able to hold four nails while charging an enemy, but the attack patterns they once had were gone, replaced with what seemed like deperate slashing. The queen was the worst of them all, bloated almost beyond recognision by the spores. The Hive blocked all the entrances to the Colony, hiding them from the rest of the infected.

The being that found them was strange, not looking like any bug in Hallownest, but acting as if it was no different from the rest. The Hive protected themselves, having forgotten of the Colony. The being went deep into their nest, and came out with a charm and what seemed to be a heavier weight on their soul. As it left it seemed to notice something, an inconsistency with the hex-shaped cells making the walls. It struck the wall with its nail to reveal a long forgotten passageway, and, taking a look behind it, followed it.

The once beautifully carved rocks were worn down, covered in a layers of dust and silt. The carefully sculpted layers broken down with age and wear. The air was thick with stale breaths and vile spores from the infection. The kingdom itself lay in worse dis-repair. The barracks where groups of ants slept together were broken down, little more than piles of rubble. Infected ants walked the old pathways, long dead to the disease, but still animated by it. The palace was broken around its queen, immobilized by the sheer amount of tumors growing around and on her.

The Ghost stepped between pathways, fighting any ants that drew their nails. Occasionally it would reach down and pick up something off the ground. It stopped at any benches it passed and sat on them, updating an empty scroll with a map of the area. Reaching the queen, it drew a nail, seemingly made from light, and struck her. Entering dreams plaqued by blinding light, and dead minds still communicating with eachother.

In the dream, the kingdom was stunning. The paths carefully curved around every outcropping. The ants instinctively knowing which had higher priorities and moving accordingly. The cave was filled with carefully planned sculptures of queens made from the materials laying around them. The queen gave out orders and the rest followed them. More caves branched out from the center, creating a hidden network of tunnels spread more throughout Hallownest than even the stag tunnels. Many ants went back and forth on a single route, collecting honey from the hive and bringing it back to their carriers.

The dream faded and the Ghost lay beside the queen, life fading from her eyes as a visage of her once beautiful form hovered nearby. "We were never meant to be part of Hallownest," she said, looking down at them. "We were just here to survive alongside the Hive. The infection reached us, but it never reached them. Go now, take our tunnels if you want, you'll find that Hallownest is much bigger than it looks. There is nothing for you to do here, all that has shaped us is gone." As she disappeared, a single token fell to the ground, a charm representing two bugs helping eachother.

_Charm of Cooperation: a ghost vessel floats directly behind you and mirrors your attacks.  
Ant Tunnels unlocked: Visit new areas within Hallownest._


	2. The Scorpion Den

Nobody notices them. Exactly what they want. They sneak through Hallownest and grab lone bugs, sometimes taking trinkets they find with them. Nobody sees them, and the people who do don't remember. Not like they can when they're dead.

The scorpions live alone behind Deepnest, not even it's residents live after seeing them. Fierce warriors guard the hidden entrances to the Den. Only those who have left are allowed back in. The infection isn't much of a problem until the rest of Hallownest gets it, and finding a bug without it is nearly impossible.

The strict guidelines they lived by were made even more strict by the fact that infected had to be killed by their siblings and then buried. The ones that survive and escape are hunted down and buried where they're killed. There is no mercy with the scorpions, only strength, honor, and secrecy.

The Ghost found the Den through the Ant Tunnels, following what seemed to be the most used path straight into a solid wall. The ghost decided to hide in a crevice and watch the unusually placed blockage. Sure enough, the wall slid to the side and a figure dashed out, allowing the Ghost to slide out of its spot and dash forwards...  
...straight into another one of the figures.

The figure standing in front of it took a moment to register the being in front of them before quickly poising it's stinger. After a moment, it struck, but missed as the Ghost dashed to the side and struck with it's nail. They lashed out with their claws as the brought their sting back, but it was already on the other side of it's body, having dashed through it in a form seemingly made from shadows. Another few strikes brought the creature down, and the Ghost pulled out a small journal.

_I have seen these creatures dashing through the undergrowth. I don't know what they are, but I can recognize another hunter when I see one. Stay away, they look dangerous._

Hiding the journal away, it started to follow the path, leaving the door behind it open. Scuttling ahead alerted it to the presence of many more creatures.

The tunnel opened up into a large cave filled with similar looking creatures, with a larger one at the end of the cave, seeming to give orders to the others. A few of the creature noticed it and started moving towards them, holding out their claws. With the Ghost surrounded they started moving it towards the lord, stopping just in front of them.

The Ghost moved a wary hand towards their nail and the lord raised their stinger as if to strike. Many thing happened in the next moment. The Ghost dashed to the side just as the lord struck, barely missing, while also swinging its nail and glancing a blow off of the Scorpion's shell, which was followed shortly after by their claws reaching out for it as they kept constant movement to avoid attacks. They went back and forth until eventually the Scorpion struck with its stinger and caught the Ghost dead on.

Waking up on a bench near the tram, thr Ghost hopped down and started running back to the den, ignoring the other bugs it passed. It slid into the hidden entrance to the tunnels and followed the path back to the Den.

Not wanting to take too long, it shot a shade soul at its regret and kept running straight at the lord, who took only a second to realize what was going on. A second to late, it struck with its stinger...  
...only to catch a full strength attack from the pure nail.

The lord fell to the side, unable to move but just barely alive. The other scorpions moved back and waved their tails at the Ghost before carrying on with whatever tasks they were doing beforehand. As the lord climbed to its feet, it waved its tail at the Ghost and started to walk down a sepperate tunnel, motioning with its claws for them to follow.

At the end of the tunnel lay a grave with a small box next to it. The lord bowed as best it could before scuttling back down the tunnel to the main cave. Written on the gravestone were the words "Honor, Strength, Secrecy, and Unity. We are the Scorpions, now and forever." along with an illegible name. Inside the box was a charm representing a scorpion stinger.

_Mark of Honor: Attack strength is increased, but nail length is reduced._


	3. Radiant Lights

The Ghost stepped out of the tunnels and found themself in the middle of Crossroads. Looking to the side, they noticed they were in a different part of the Crossroads than they normally see, and the infection hadn't yet covered this area.

Hopping down onto what seemed to be the main path, they picked a direction and started walking. Blinking lights up ahead led it forwards, but they seemed to be moving farther away. It sped up to reach them...  
...and ended up turned around right where they started. Startled, they looked into the opening of the ant tunnel and saw a scratch on the wall from where it was fighting another bug earlier.

Determined to find where the area went, they turned around and kept going down the tunnel, being sure to pay attention to where they were going, but still following the flickering lights.

After the fifth attempt led back to the ant tunnels, they decided to keep going the other direction. A slight buzzing sound filled their ears, and they turned their head to see the lights floating just behind them. The lights quickly scattered once seen, and the ghost turned forward and continued down the path.

They nearly threw their nail at the wall when they came back to the entrance to the area, but stopped when they looked closer. A section of the wall was set back from the rest ever so slightly. Swinging their nail a few times, they stepped into the opening and checked their surroundings.

The Ghost stood at the edge of a cylindrical chamber with a hole in the ceiling to reveal the night sky. Various blinking lights flew throughout the area which, on closer inspection, turned out to be bugs similar to lumaflies.

The buzzing sounded right behind them, and they turned around to see the same three bugs floating around them curiously. One of them flew up and poked the knight, and they just stood there, examining them. Then they pulled out the dream nail and struck.

_Not like the others...Good light or bad light?...Dark, not controlling...Good dark?...Bad dark?_

The thought stream ended there as the bug flew back a bit. Then, nodding as if they were making a decision, they flew up to the Ghost and landed between their horns.

_Firefly Companion: Provides light and distracts enemies when focussing soul._


End file.
